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Two senior officials resign as pressure grows for minister to resign
Two senior figures in Italy's Justice Ministry, who are under criminal investigation, resigned on Tuesday, while Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is pressing for another cabinet minister to step down.
Meloni is reforming her government after a heavy defeat in Monday's referendum, which has weakened her authority and emboldened the opposition.
Voters overwhelmingly rejected Meloni's key justice reform in a high-stakes vote widely seen as a test of her leadership, turning what the government had presented as a technical review into a broader political rejection.
The result has shocked the government and caused immediate political repercussions. The opposition accused Meloni of finding a "scapegoat" for its mistakes.
All three officials are under investigation by prosecutors, creating a damaging image for a government that has sought to limit the role of the judiciary. Critics argue that the real purpose of the failed referendum was to shield politicians from investigations.
Undersecretary of Justice Andrea Delmastro Delle Vedove, a longtime ally of Meloni, was linked last week to a mafia clan in Rome after it was revealed that he had invested in a steakhouse with the daughter of a convicted mafia representative.
Delmastro Delle Vedove denied any wrongdoing and said he had corrected the mistake "as soon as he realised it", but admitted he "should have been more careful".
“ I have always fought crime and achieved concrete and important results… But I take responsibility [for the mistake] in the interest of the country and, above all, because of the respect I have for the government and the prime minister ,” he said in a statement released Tuesday to announce his resignation.
Delmastro Delle Vedove had also received a criminal conviction earlier during this legislature for leaking official secrets.
Justice Ministry chief of staff and former lawmaker Giusi Bartolozzi faces criminal charges over an alleged cover-up of a case involving a Libyan warlord who was arrested last year on an International Criminal Court warrant and then flown out of Rome. During the campaign, she called prosecutors a “firing squad,” reinforcing accusations that the government views the investigations as political interference. Bartolozzi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meloni also signaled that he had lost confidence in Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè, who has been ordered to stand trial on charges related to fraud over Covid-19 aid, and said in a statement that he “hoped” she would choose to resign. Santanchè did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Justice Minister Carlo Nordio, who drafted the reform, took responsibility for the defeat, but said on Tuesday that he would not resign and would "return to his studies and hobbies" after national elections due next year.
The head of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, told La7 television that those who resigned were "easy scapegoats for a defeat that is entirely Giorgia Meloni's."
Carlo Calenda, leader of the centrist Azione party, said the resignations were "necessary, appropriate and overdue".
Senator Raffaella Paita of the centrist Italia Viva party called the resignations “a political earthquake in the government” and asked Meloni to provide explanations in parliament. “The prime minister cannot have half of the government resigning to avoid her own resignation.” /Adapted from Politico /
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